Besotted (The Fairest Maidens #3) - Jody Hedlund Page 0,32

Forest?”

I tried to mask my surprise at how astute this man was. “Think what you will. But we are woodcutters. Go ask Walter Matthews in Birchwood. He’ll vouch for us.”

Chester studied my face, as if attempting to see past my deceit. Finally, he spun and stalked away, banging the door closed behind him.

For as much as the man irritated me, I couldn’t fault him for his suspicions. He was concerned for Rory and wanted to keep her safe from any potential harm. If I were in his position, I might have reacted the same way to having two outsiders in my home, especially if they interacted with the woman I cared about.

I closed my eyes, weariness washing over me. I didn’t want to hurt her in any way. Yet if I allowed our attraction to progress unchecked during my recuperation, I’d certainly cause her heartache when I left.

Friendship. Yes, that was the solution. I’d make a point of treating her as naught more than a friend. I would squelch the desire that surfaced so easily every time I was with her, and I’d facilitate friendship instead.

Surely no harm could come from just being friends.

Chapter

10

Aurora

I loved spending time with Kresten. In fact, with every passing day, the more time I spent with him, the more I wanted, not less. When I was busy with chores, I could think of nothing but finishing so I could visit him. And when I was with him, I dreaded Chester’s intrusive command telling me my time was up.

At first, Aunt Idony allowed me to sit with Kresten for the briefest of lengths and only a couple of times a day. But after she gave Kresten permission to sit up in bed, she also allowed me to stay longer.

Just as he’d been when we met in the forest, he was an interesting, entertaining, talkative, and fun-loving young man. And he brought life and energy to our cottage that we’d never had before.

Aunt Elspeth easily fell prey to his charm, giggling and talking like a young girl whenever she was around him. While Aunt Idony was more guarded, at the very least she accepted his presence. It helped that Jorg asked to aid with chores, assisting Aunt Idony with weeding the garden, pruning fruit trees, and chopping wood for fuel.

True to his word, Kresten taught me Tafl, a game he’d learned while living in Scania. I caught on with haste, and we spent hours a day challenging each other in both Tafl and chess. He also liked when I read aloud to him. At first, I was uncomfortable when he watched me read, but soon enough I grew accustomed to the attention and rather enjoyed it.

At the end of the second week, Aunt Idony decided his wound wasn’t healing well enough for his leg to bear weight. And though both he and Jorg insisted that they needed to be on their way, Aunt Idony persuaded them to stay longer.

Kresten seemed to take the news in stride, while Jorg was more agitated. By the end of the third week at the cottage, Jorg decided to hike to Birchwood and inform their warden what had happened and why they were failing to deliver their regular quota.

With Jorg gone for the day, I suspected Kresten would be more restless than usual.

“How are you faring?” I peeked my head into the chamber during one of the occasions Chester had gone outside to attend to his charcoal kilns. Though he didn’t devote as much time to charcoal burning as others of the trade, he’d kept up the appearance of being a charcoal burner, as had Sir William before him, so if anyone questioned our means of survival, they would assume we relied upon the charcoal as well as living off the forest instead of a secret royal provision.

Propped up in bed with cushions against the wall, Kresten lowered the book he’d been reading and grinned at me in welcome. The sight of him never failed to send a flutter through my stomach.

He cocked his head toward the game sitting on the bedside table where we’d left it the night before. “I am waiting to resume our Tafl game. The one I’m winning.”

“The one you are winning only because I am letting you.”

“We’ll see about that.” His grin broadened, making him all the more appealing, and I wanted more than anything to abandon my embroidery at the table and sit with Kresten. Chester had restricted my visits to the times when he was